(a) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a mud flap system for use on the rear of a vehicle, and more particularly, but not limited to, a mud flap system which mounts to the male portion used on a receiver hitch and which allows adjustment of the height and size of the mud flap supports.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
The need for attaching mud flaps to the rear of a vehicle has long been recognized. However, the solutions to meet this need have required modifications to the vehicle or have permitted little adjustment to the size or position of the mud flaps.
For example, a device taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,734 to Brown uses a cross member which mounts on a pivoting means to the trailer to be towed. Mud flaps mount on to the cross member of the Brown device. Thus the pivoting means used with brown device allows for correction of the angle of the mud flap support relative to the trailer as the towing vehicle goes through turns and the like. The Brown device, while presenting a solution to the need of keeping a proper alignment and position of the mud flaps relative to the trailer, does not address the problem associated with adjusting the position of the mud flaps in a vertical orientation. This shortcoming is important since many vehicles are now equipped with suspension systems that allow raising or lowering of the vehicle to adjust the vehicle's clearance depending on whether one is traveling over rough terrain or over smooth highways.
Another known mud flap support device is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,094 to Haddox. The Haddox device takes advantage of the structure used on some receiver hitch structures. While the Haddox device offers important advantages in that it makes efficient use of structure that may be found on the vehicle, it suffers limitations in that it is not truly universal and that it does not truly allow adjustment of the height of the flaps. Importantly, the Haddox device does not allow for convenient adjustment of the height of the flaps, so that the user may lower the flaps when driving over smooth highways and raise the flaps when traveling over rough mountain roads.
It has been found that it is important to provide a system that allows adjustment of the height of the mud flaps and that this need has yet to be met by known devices. The need for vertical adjustability arises out of the fact that the height of the truck varies in response to the load being carried by the truck. Thus adjustment of the flaps so that they clear the ground when truck is fully loaded will result in a height adjustment that is inadequate, or too high, for when the truck is not loaded.
Another flap support system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,378 to Cook. The Cook invention uses a scissoring, cross bar arrangement to adjust the fore and aft position of the flap relative to the towing vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,764 to Whitaker teaches a mud flap mounting device which allows the mud flap supports to pivot in a fore and aft manner relative to a hitch attachment on the vehicle. Thus, while the Whitaker invention allows the mud flaps to flex and move in a fore and aft manner, the device does not address the problem of allowing a user to adjust the height of the mud flaps. Moreover, the Whitaker device attaches to a structural member of the hitch support. This type of arrangement requires permanent modifications to the hitch installation, and thus does not permit the convenient removal of the mud flap mounting system or change the vehicle on which the mounting system is being used.
Another mud flap support is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,432 to Van Remortel et al., which teaches a system which can be used with dump trucks. The Van Remortel device provides for pivoting and sliding of the flaps along a support near the rear portion of the truck. The sliding motion of the flaps allows the flaps to be moved away from an area where the flaps may be run over by the rear wheels of the truck. The Van Remortel device, however, does not provide for vertical adjustment of the flaps. Moreover, the Van Remortel system requires modifications to the truck body for permanent mounting of the system.
Yet another mud flap support system is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,722 to Conner, which teaches a mud flap apparatus which can attach to the frame of a truck and which can be adjusted for matching the width of the truck. However, the Conner device does not allow vertical adjustment of the position of the flaps. Also of importance is the fact that the Conner device is not readily mountable on commonly used trailer hitch attachments, such as the well known receiver type hitch which is found on many pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles, and the like.
Still another system for supporting mud flaps on a vehicle is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 359,476 to Stivers. The Stivers device includes a yoke type attachment to secure a set of flaps to a beam on a vehicle. The Stivers device, like other known mud flap support systems, does not provide for vertical adjustment of the mud flap supports or height adjustments of the mud flaps themselves.
Thus, a review of known devices reveals that there remains a need for a mud flap support system that can be used on a variety of vehicles with a trailer hitch system, without having to modify the hitch system itself. Moreover, there remains a need for a mud flap support system that can be mounted on a receiver hitch system on a vehicle, and which allows adjustment of the flap height.
Still further, there remains a need for a mud flap support system that allows the user to adjust the height of the mud flaps quickly and easily.
There remains a need for a mud flap support system that allows height adjustment in order to compensate for the reduction of the heigh of the truck when carrying heavy loads.
Still further, there remains a need for a mud flap support system that can use interchangeable components that allow variation in the width of the mud flap support as well as in the height of the supports.
Moreover, there remains a need for a mud flap support system that may be mounted on the male portion of the receiver hitch, and thus allow use of the receiver hitch to carry a trailer while using the mud flap support system.
Additionally, there remains a need for a mud flap support system that is versatile, and thus allows configuration of the system to accept attachments such as bicycle racks, and support the bicycle rack while towing a trailer.